It's midnight in San Francisco. My body thinks that it is 2 AM. The next flight doesn't leave until actual 2 AM ... my 4 AM. It's been a long day. My day began in Kansas City, Missouri where my sister, Crystal, and I started the day with a breakfast of grits and fresh carrot juice. I will probably not have access to grits again until Christmas. We went rock climbing for a couple hours, leaving just before two school buses of children were to enter for their summer field trip. A lunch of leftovers, a phone call with our younger sister, Grace, and we were off to the airport. Believe it or not, the Kansas City airport doesn't appear to have baggage carts to help you lug your two 50+ pound suitcases into the check in counter. Apparently they expect you to be superhuman and while I would like to think that I am pretty awesome, I'm not that good. Crystal, being the wonderful sister that she is, paid $1 to park and help me carry everything in (Thanks sis!). Once through security at my gate, it's 3:10 PM . . . my flight doesn't leave until 6:05 PM. So much time to kill. Some word search, some people watching, the seats around me fill up for the flight about to leave for Seattle. I call a friend from school and chat for a bit then I realize that by the time I get to San Francisco, it'll be pretty late at night on the East Coast. I begin calling family to have a last chat and that basically gets me through until boarding time. My dad has no signal being as he's in a camp with thousands of other people who are also biking across Iowa, but everyone else gets talked to before I leave. The flight from KC to San Fran is uneventful. No screaming children, only one guy not using headphones as he plays some video game on his Nintendo Switch ... but I can't sleep. Maybe a 20 minute nap but that's it. I've never been good at sleeping on airplanes. But I did finish my book, "Eating Viet Nam." When we land in San Fran, we can't get off the plane yet because the buses that came to pick us up forgot to bring the gate agent (the guy who opens the plane door to let everyone off) ... he gets there eventually. It's chilly in San Fran, I wished I had thought to grab something mroe than a t-shirt from my checked bag earlier. While waiting for the train to the international terminal, a Buddhist monk comes and asks me for directions to I'm not sure where. We attempt to talk for a minute and I figure out he's headed to the international terminal as well so I tell him to just come with me. We attempt to talk on the train (he was heavily accented and I don't think his English was that great) and I find out that he has just come back from Griffin, Georgia (why a Buddhist monk is there I have no idea) and we chat about me moving to Vietnam. He says I should go to China (where he's from). We get to the international terminal and split ways as I try to figure out where to go. I have to check in again for these next two flights so I look for the China Airlines counter . . . it doesn't open until 10:15 PM . . . it was 8:40 at the time. Dinner and internet browsing get me through to 10:15 when I join the large line at the ticket counter. I hand my passport to the lady at the ticket counter and let her know I want to check a third bag (I had carried it through the first leg of the trip). Then she asks for my visa into Vietnam . . . I don't have one yet but I have my entry letter which I've been told will get me a visa once I'm in the Hanoi airport. So that's what she gets. She takes it, makes a copy, and staples it to a form which I have to sign. This form basically says "This idiot doesn't have a proper visa and they're signing this to release the airline from all liability should they get upset if they don't get let into the country they bought a ticket to." I sign, get my tickets, and go on my way. (No, I wasn't supposed to get a visa before I went ... I promise) By this point, it's around 11:00 but I know from my internet browsing that there's basically nothing to do once you go past the security checkpoint ... plus I'm not done with my coffee yet (I'm SO TIRED!). But there's an art exhibit ... about cats (why not?) ... so I peruse while finishing my coffee. Then on through security ... bucket for big electronics, small electronics, carry on bag, and shoes. The TSA agent seems to appreciate not having to ask me a million questions about stuff to take out of my bag ... I did this once today already, I got it down. Once I'm reassembled on the other side, I start walking. I know I'll fall asleep (and maybe miss my flight) if I sit down so I walk circles up and down the international gates. After about 3 passes, I realize some other guy is doing the same thing. He has a full size red pillow attached to his bag (hard to miss). Once I hit my 10K steps for the day (at 11:55 PM), I go find my gate and start typing this entry. I have no wifi for some reason so WordPad it is ... you guys will have to deal with me posting this later. It's 12:30 AM. My body thinks it's 2:30 AM. My flight boards at actual 1:40AM ... my 3:40AM. It's been a long day. I think I'll walk some more.
1 Comment
Michele Ritan
25/7/2018 07:30:31 am
Enjoying your blog, Shannon! Wishing you the best.
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ShannonMath Teacher living and working in Hanoi, Vietnam Archives
February 2022
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